Miniatures Ribbon Chair

Pierre Paulin, 1966

The enthusiastic, progressive atmosphere of the 1960s and Pierre Paulin's sculptural training were influential factors in the design of the Ribbon Chair. The curving loops of its shape, covered in colourful upholstery fabrics or psychedelic patterns by Jack Lenor Larsen, give it a captivating, futuristic appeal. Pierre Paulin himself interpreted the Ribbon Chair as a "coup de pied à la lune". A famous advertisement shows the Ribbon Chair on a runway with a jet taking off above it.
The seat, backrest and armrests of the chair have a unified metal frame that is completely covered with foam upholstery and stretch fabric. The seat is mounted on a lacquered pedestal made of pressed wood. The de-velopment of the Ribbon Chair was facilitated by technological innovations during the Sixties, which led to the production of inexpensive synthetic foams. This period also saw the introduction of novel elastic fabrics that could be used to envelop a complex contoured shape without folds or intricate seams. The biomorphic, slightly resilient seat of the Ribbon Chair allows a wide variety of sitting positions and provides a high degree of seating comfort.

For over two decades, the Vitra Design Museum has been making miniature replicas of milestones in furniture design from its collection. The Miniatures Collection encapsulates the entire history of industrial furniture design – moving from Historicism and Art Nouveau to the Bauhaus and New Objectivity, from Radical Design and Postmodernism all the way up to the present day. Exactly one sixth the size of the historical originals, the chairs are all true to scale and precisely recreate the smallest…